Have a holly, jolly holiday with the help of Jolly Pumpkin Pizzeria and Brewery! From apparel and dog collars to seasonal beer and catering capabilities, the Midtown restaurant and brewery has everything it takes to please sour beer fans this winter season.

As with most standard American styles, Brown Ale was born in Europe. The earliest English Ales were brown in color, using “brown” malt – base malt that had been kilned over a hardwood fire. These early beers were prized for their smokiness and dark color, and the first reference to brown ales was in 1750, by way of Partigyle Brewing.

Saison was born in the 1700s in the Belgian countryside and finds its roots as quite a few other regional styles of beer do: necessity. The water available in the region wasn't suitable for consumption, and by the miracle of fermentation, the water was made drinkable. The beer also doubled as compensation for farm workers, to the tune of 5 litres per day.

Here we are, just a few days away from WINTER BEERFEST! I have assembled my top 25 list for this year, and my is it sounding delicious! Breweries from all over the state are bringing their brightest and best for the festival, anxious to share their fantastic brew with all of you!

The BOB will pair local craft beers with a unique selection of Gilly’s food options – manyincorporating beer.

In celebration of Beer City U.S.A.’s (GrandRapids’) 2nd Annual Beer Week, The BOB will be hosting a craft beer dinner featuring14 Michigan breweries and food from Gilly’s on Thursday, Feb. 21, at 6:00 p.m.

In just a few short days, most of us will embark on one of the quintessential events of the American experience: heading home for a 2-3 day death-march of way too much food, family, and football. Yes, it's Thanksgiving, the time to remember how thankful we are for our family, and that we don't live with them every other day of the year as well. As far as the food, Thanksgiving dinners can either be delicious and savory or poorly seasoned and boring--there seems to rarely be an in-between.

However the dinner is where you're going, you're likely going to need (we strongly encourage it, anyway) a few beers to help you survive, especially while watching the Lions. So, we thought we would put together a beer drinking guide to Thanksgiving, a couple beers to sip on throughout the day and then a few to go with each of courses in the traditional Thanksgiving meal. We hope you find it useful and wish you safe and happy travels wherever you're headed this week.

Crystal Mountain welcomes another summer season with over 60 Michigan craft beers and a dozen different brats from local markets during the 7th Annual Michigan Beer & Brat Festival, Saturday, May 26 (3-9pm).

The SOLD OUT 3rd Annual Traverse City Microbrew & Music Festival Sat. Feb. 11, in the Village at Grand Traverse Commons, was AWESOME! Originally the Fest was planned for Old Towne in TC but the return to the site of the summer Porterhouse event was a blessing and a perfect combo to the annual VASA ski weekend.